When Freya and I awoke the next morning, we gathered
our few belongings and Freya made her farewells to her friends in the village.
I went to wake Karazak’s tent, but he wasn’t there! I used my tracking skills I
had picked up in the wilderness and found him at the damaged gate, staring out
into the endless forest. I walked up to him said:
“Ready to go?”
“Yes, just enjoying my last view of home in all
likelihood.”
“Can I join you while Freya makes her farewells?”
“Of course, but there was something I wanted to talk
to you about involving you and my sister.”
“I understand; what is it?”
A custom of our village is that the closest male
family member to the daughter has to authorise anything ‘official’, and can
also ask this of her lover.”
“I see where this is going. You don’t want me going after
your sister!”
“No! Sorry, that is not what I meant. I was going to
ask you to join hands with my sister. It is an ancient custom symbolising a
strong bond of love between the two participants.”
“Ok, what arrangements must be made on my part?”
“None, I have talked to the village elders, and they
have agreed to your participation in the ceremony. Normally, the man would give
a gift to the girl’s family, but under the circumstances, all parties have
agreed that saving Freya’s life was enough; as well as this off world business!”
“This is great news! When is the ceremony?”
“In the village centre in 1 hour’s time. Oh and you’d
better talk to Freya about the ceremonial wear, I believe she has been making
some this morning after spreading the news to her friends.”
“Is this another custom? For the girl to make the
man’s ceremonial clothing.”
“That is one of the reasons both parties get to know
each other first!”
“Right then, I had better try the clothing then. I will
see you for the ceremony.”
As it turned out, the ceremonial robes where perfectly
fitted and simple in design; It was simply a rectangular sheet of fabric that
was pinned at one shoulder and secured at the waist with a thin cord. The time
that went into making one was the time spent embroidering ceremonial detail in
the correct locations. On mine there was a five pointed star above my heart and
the Eagle of the Imperium upon my chest, while Freya’s had the moon over her
heart and what I thought was the tribe’s icon; a marked wolverine underneath a stylised
falling star on a green background. Then I realised it was how I had come to
know her and was in effect an icon of our relationship. She also had an Eagle,
but on her right shoulder where I had the relationship icon. I then realised my
position: I had fallen in love. It hit me like a hammer blow to see how far I
had come in the few days between me being a wild jungle hunter to falling in
love and joining a tribe.
Freya had then described how the ceremony would run:
Freya would stand outside her shelter with Karazak and I would walk to her
shelter from the gate with one of the town elders filling in the role of next
of kin. There would be an exchange of vows which would normally include gifts,
but a trip off-world was more than sufficient. According to Freya, this was to
bind the couple through word. The next step was to bind the couples hands and
feet to bind them by action. They are then left under a bamboo frame draped
with sheets until the next morning to allow the couple to bind through thought.
The ceremony was a wonderful experience, and it also
included the initiation rites for the tribe which involved cutting the tribes
icon into my arm using my phosphor-beta knife. The off-worlder and his guards
were also present to witness the ceremony. In the morning, the rite concluded
with us having the star and moon removed from our robes and we began the
ceremony for leaving the tribe, but with a slim chance of return. Before we
left for the stars, two of the village elders embroidered the tribal icon over
both of our hearts.
The off-worlder introduced himself for the first time
as von Carstien, a name of sorts I have never heard before.
He led Karazak, Freya and I to a large clearing with a
large metal beast, the likes of which I had never seen. Von Carstien then
invited us to get into the beast, which he called a shuttle and make ourselves comfortable.
He followed us in, but passed us and opened a hatch in the wall and retrieved
what looked like a metal rectangle with colourful images painted on the front.
Von Carstien called it a data-slate and claimed that he knew Freya and Karazak’s
father as well as mine. He also claimed that the “data-slate” contained pictures
of both Colonel Lorenzo Griess and Knight-Commander Craig Johnson.
The off-worlder introduced himself for the first time
as von Carstien, a name of sorts I have never heard before.
He led Karazak, Freya and I to a large clearing with a
large metal beast, the likes of which I had never seen. Von Carstien then
invited us to get into the beast, which he called a shuttle and make ourselves comfortable.
He followed us in, but passed us and opened a hatch in the wall and retrieved
what looked like a metal rectangle with colourful images painted on the front.
Von Carstien called it a data-slate and claimed that he knew Freya and Karazak’s
father as well as mine. He also claimed that the “data-slate” contained pictures
of both Colonel Lorenzo Griess and Knight-Commander Craig Johnson.
As the shuttle rose through the atmosphere to reach
the ship von Carstien had come on: Karazak, Freya and I pored over several
dataslates that showed pictures of Johnson, Griess and Carstien. I was
saddened, but relieved to see a picture of my father’s funeral, and to see who
he was succeeded by: a gruff soldier by the name of Straken.
As we approached the ship, von Carstien showed us into
the cabin to show is the ship as it approached, It was a gargantuan thing,
three km long and half a km wide. The shuttle was completely dwarfed as it
entered the hanger bay.
We all looked in wonder as we guessed what could be
inside such a great vessel.
